Paul Lawrie had seven birdies in ten holes to race clear at the start of the Dubai World Championship presented by DP World.
Only a Rory McIlroy victory in the last event of The European Tour season can stop Luke Donald completing an unprecedented double of money list titles on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year.
Former Open champion Lawrie, who in Spain in March had his first win for nine years, was making his debut in a tournament reserved for the top 60 earners each season and began his run with 15 foot putts on the fifth and sixth.
The Scot then chipped close at the long seventh, made a 30 footer to complete an outward 32 and then collected more birdies at the tenth, 11th and 626 yard 14th.
At seven under he was four clear of Ireland's Shane Lowry and South African Jaco Van Zyl, two more first-timers in the event.
The 58-strong field - Justin Rose and Fredrik Jacobson are not playing - teed off in reverse order of their Race to Dubai positions in the opening round.
That meant Donald and McIlroy, World Number One and World Number Two respectively and top two on The Race to Dubai as well, were last out at 12.30pm local time.
Even if McIlroy wins on Sunday, Donald would still take the crown with a top-nine finish.
Twice European Number One Ernie Els, meanwhile, was down on two over after a double bogey six on the tenth and defending champion Robert Karlsson next-to-last on three over after bogeying both the par fives and the 499 yard par four ninth to turn in 39.
Els needs a top four finish to have a chance of climbing back into the Official World Golf Ranking's top 50 just in time to earn an invitation for next April's Masters Tournament.
There was also a possibility that he could lose his position as The European Tour's leading career money-winner to Lee Westwood.
The field size came down to 57 when Y E Yang, who two years ago became the first Korean to win a Major when he beat Tiger Woods at the US PGA Championship, withdrew after four holes with a neck injury.
